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FCC Granted Broader Authority to Regulate Prisoner Call Costs
by Chuck Sharman
On March 16, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to begin rule-making to implement the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022. Named after a determined woman who tirelessly campaigned to lower her bill to call her imprisoned grandson – which sometimes …
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More from this issue:
- Despite #MeToo, Celebrity Justice Remains Massively Unjust, by Matthew Clarke
- Georgia Prison Smuggling Ring Busted, Warden and Former Guard Arrested, by Chuck Sharman
- Pennsylvania Jail Hit With Over $1.5 Million in Overages for Guards, Healthcare, by Kevin Bliss
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $50,000 Settlement to Texas Prisoner for Feces-Covered Cell
- New Jail Healthcare Provider Coming to Albuquerque – Again, by Kevin Bliss
- Third Connecticut Prison Lockdown in Five Months, by Kevin Bliss
- Guantanamo Prison Down to 30 Detainees, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Fifth BOP Staff Conviction and Sixth Arrest in California Prison ‘Rape Club’, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Tennessee DOC Coughs Up Video of Condemned Prisoner Who Severed Own Penis, by Eike Blohm, MD
- California LGBTQ Pardon Initiative Falls Short, by Chuck Sharman
- Florida Returning Canteen Funds for Prisoner Programming, by Harold Hempstead
- Fifth Detainee Dies in 2023 at California’s Santa Rita Jail, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Ohio Makes Sweeping Changes to Criminal Justice
- New York City Stops Reporting Rikers Island Deaths Amid Rampant Guard Misconduct, by Kevin Bliss, Chuck Sharman, Benjamin Tschirhart
- New York Prisoner Is Released After Conviction Is Vacated, Reinstated and Vacated Once More, by Chuck Sharman
- Seventh Circuit: Attorney’s Submission of Illinois Prisoner’s Grievance Exhausts Administrative Remedies, by David Reutter
- $142,500 Settlement After Pennsylvania Jail Guard Allegedly Knocked Out Detainee and Broke Her Jaw, by Matthew Clarke
- L.A. County Watchdog Takes Aim at “Deputy Gangs”, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Revives Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Over Prison Work Injury, by Matthew Clarke
- Newly Released Government Records Reveal Horrible Neglect of Terminally Ill Woman in Federal Prison, by C.J. Ciaramella
- Prisoner Who Reached $11,400 Retaliation Settlement with South Dakota Jail Tries Again with DOC, by Keith Sanders
- Seventh Circuit: Low IQ and Segregation Placement May Render Administrative Remedies Unavailable to Indiana Prisoner, by David Reutter
- More Success for Medication-Assisted Treatment Programs in Prisons and Jails, by Keith Sanders
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of North Carolina Prisoner’s ADA Claim for Failure to Show Deliberate Indifference, by Douglas Ankney
- California Appeals Court Affirms Rate Caps and Fee Limitations for Prison Telecoms, by Douglas Ankney
- $120,000 Settlement Reached With Long Island Detainee Assaulted by Jail Guards, by Jacob Barrett
- $500,000 Settlement for Texas Man Wrongly Imprisoned for Child Sex Abuse, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- New York Bail Reform Laws Reduced Recidivism, Contrary to Critics’ Claims, by Chuck Sharman
- $150,000 Verdict for South Carolina Jail Detainee’s Groin Injury During Pat-Down, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Texas Prisons are Fire Traps, by Edward Lyon
- Over $7,600 Awarded to Tennessee Prisoner for Retaliatory Cell Search and Transfer
- FCC Granted Broader Authority to Regulate Prisoner Call Costs, by Chuck Sharman
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Prisoner’s Injury Requiring Medical Treatment Not De Minimus, by David Reutter
- California Prisoners Embracing Arts, by Kevin Bliss
- $15,001 Verdict Against Delaware Guard for Gaping Prisoner’s Butt During Strip Search, by Keith Sanders
- Almost 800 Deaths in South Carolina Jails and Prisons Six Years
- Fourth Circuit Revives Virginia Prisoner’s Challenge to Discipline for Allegedly Sexually Harassing Guard, by David Reutter
- Georgia Prisoner Allowed to Proceed on Section 1983 Claim Seeking Execution by Firing Squad, by David Reutter
- Iowa DOC Changes Policy After Ombudsman Calls Out Unfair Prisoner Discipline, by Kevin Bliss
- States Take Legislative Action to Address Family Separation by Incarceration, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Biden Granting More Pardons Than Trump, Fewer Than Obama, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Bad Lawyering, Bankruptcy Torpedo Suit Over Delaware Prisoner’s Death, by Jayson Hawkins
- California Appellate Court: Time Spent in Mental Hospital to Restore Competency is Time Served, by David Reutter
- FCC Requires Prison Telecoms to Provide Services for Deaf Prisoners, by Jordan Arizmendi
- $1.325 Million Settlement after Virginia Detainee’s Opiate Withdrawal Ignored in Jail, by David Reutter
- Nebraska Parole Board Members Showing Up to Work More Often, by Jordan Arizmendi, Chuck Sharman
- The World’s Biggest Prison, by Edward Lyon
- News in Brief
More from Chuck Sharman:
- ACLU Threatens New Lawsuit After Indiana County’s Repeated Failures to Abide by 17-Year-Old Settlement Agreement, May 1, 2026
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, May 1, 2026
- Exonerated Texas Prisoner Entitled to $1.68 Million After 22 Years of Wrongful Incarceration, May 1, 2026
- Atlanta Jail Boasts Improvements Since Consent Decree, Reports from Monitor and ACLU Are More Critical, May 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Blaming Lazy Guards for Assault by Detainee, May 1, 2026
- $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, May 1, 2026
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026
- NaphCare Pays $875,000 to Settle New York License Violations, Banned from State for Five Years, May 1, 2026
- Texas Officials Testify That Cost to Air Condition Prisons Tops $1.5 Billion, May 1, 2026
- $2.135 Million Partial Settlement Reached in Schizophrenic Detainee’s Death from “Gross Medical Neglect” at South Carolina Jail, May 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Digital Tablet Shift Brings Added Cost, Lost Data to Prisoners in California, April 1, 2026. Computers, Prisoner Property, Telephone Rates, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp.
- FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations, Feb. 1, 2026. Misconduct/Corruption, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates.
- The Succession Battle for a Prison Empire, Dec. 1, 2025. Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors.
- An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring, Dec. 1, 2025. Databases, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Electronic Surveillance, Securus.
- Colorado Children Sue County Jail to Fight Visitation Ban, Dec. 1, 2025. Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Children of Prisoners, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Private Phone Contractors.
- Securus Loses Bid to Dismiss HRDC Price-Fixing Suit, Nov. 1, 2025. Class Certification, RICO, Statutes of Limitation and Laches, HRDC Litigation, Global Tel*Link Corp.
- FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails, Nov. 1, 2025. Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates, Cell Phone Access, Federal Legislation, Police State-Surveillance.
- FCC Votes For Dramatic Hike to Prison Phone Call Rates, Nov. 1, 2025. Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Cell Phone Access, Video Visitation, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp.
- FCC Backtracks on 2024 Order to Cut Prison Phone and Video Rates by Half, Aug. 1, 2025. Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Private Phone Contractors, Securus.
- HRDC Collaborates on Prison Telecom Cost Report to Washington Lawmakers, Aug. 1, 2025. Electronic Tablets, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates.

